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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24309358">To Rise in Perfect Light</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunamionny/pseuds/Lunamionny'>Lunamionny</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Astronomy, Bittersweet, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Happy Ending, Healing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 03:26:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,492</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24309358</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunamionny/pseuds/Lunamionny</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>‘Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light;<br/>I have loved the stars too truly to be fearful of the night’<br/>- From the poem ‘The Old Astronomer’ by Sarah Williams. </p><p> Andromeda’s story of love, loss and learning to live again.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Andromeda Black Tonks/Ted Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt/Andromeda Black Tonks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Astronomy: 2020 Round Three</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>To Rise in Perfect Light</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">



        <li>In response to a prompt by
            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSlytherinCabal/pseuds/TheSlytherinCabal">TheSlytherinCabal</a>  in the  <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/collections/DBQ2020Round3">DBQ2020Round3</a>
          collection.
        </li>
    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me but are the property of J.K.R. and Warner Bros. No copyright infringement is intended.<br/>The theme for this round of the competition was Astronomy and my chosen pairing was Andromeda Black and Kingsley Shacklebolt.<br/>Comments/Reviews are encouraged by The Slytherin Cabal's Admin Team on all stories in Death By Quill, but comments left by readers are set to be moderated by story authors until the end of the competition in order to protect participants' anonymity.<br/>Thank you to my beta for their time and help.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Girls often dream of being saved by a knight in shining armour, but Andromeda never does. What would she need saving from? And besides, she thinks at the age of eleven and having already mastered the best Expelliarmus of her DADA class, why on earth would she not be able to save <em> herself </em>?</p><p>But saviours do not always appear riding on glossy white steads, wearing their shiny armour with ease. Saviours come in different guises. It is not until late in her life that Andromeda realises this truth and that she was, in fact, saved by three knights, who joined her in different battles and fought alongside her with different weapons. Battles Andromeda hadn’t even realised she’d been fighting. </p><p>And it is those battles that are often the deadliest, after all.</p>
<hr/><p>The first of Andromeda’s knights is an unassuming boy with a round face and a wide smile who she is partnered up with in her first Astronomy class of Hogwarts. She notes his yellow-hemmed jumper and Muggle name, and purses her lips, cautious and uncertain. She has not met one of his kind before. </p><p>The students are told to study the moon, to map its orbits, and it is only minutes into the exercise when Ted Tonks says, “You know, Muggles will probably go there one day.” </p><p>“What?” The word is snapped out between clenched teeth, the tone born from anxiety rather than annoyance. She is a Pureblood and a Black; she has been taught to treat Muggle-borns with disdain, but there does not seem any good reason to treat this affable, good-natured boy in such a way. It all makes Andromeda quite unsure of how to act. </p><p>The boy nods at the pale orb in the sky and tells her a tale of huge metal cylinders called rockets, of NASA, of people called astronauts. </p><p>She is both amazed and sceptical, but later finds out he spoke the truth. She cannot help but admire Muggles for conjuring their own kind of magic, such that they can launch themselves into the skies and fly among the stars. </p><p>“You were right,” she admits to him during their next Astronomy lesson.  </p><p>He grins at her, mischievous and conspiratorial. “Oh, I know. I normally am.” </p><p>He does not seem at all put out by the fact that she didn’t believe him in the first place. He does not hold grudges, is not guarded or defensive, but instead is open and generous and honest. After years growing up with Cissa’s cold smiles and Bella’s sneers, Andromeda finds his behaviour intriguing and...appealing. </p><p>They are worlds apart, like planets orbiting different suns, but it is the stars that bind them together. </p><p>Andromeda has been fascinated by Astronomy ever since her father pointed out her constellation one night when she was six years old, its stars twinkling like fireflies and seemingly immortal. She finds that Ted Tonks shares this passion and they spend nights watching the sky alone together, tracking meteors as they burn across the blackness of space. </p><p>When the nights are cold, he gives her his robe. Andromeda smiles and wears the badger emblem proudly, with no sense of betrayal. Her allegiances are already shifting. </p><p>Ted Tonks is her first knight. He is her Perseus, saving her from the punishment of her mother’s sins. It is because of him that she understands what side she must stand on. It is painful to be disowned from her family, yes, but she knows her soul would have wilted if she'd stayed on the side of the dark. </p><p>After they get married, they build a unique telescope together. It is an unprecedented piece of equipment and envied by other magical astronomers. It sits in the small observatory they build at the top of their house, where they spend nearly all their free time until Nymphadora arrives, their daughter immediately surpassing Astronomy as the first passion in both their lives. </p><p>Andromeda gains a coveted place as an Unspeakable in the Astronomical Division of the Ministry, researching the secrets of the skies. She soon becomes renowned and respected in her field. But then war comes once more. </p><p>The day they decide Ted must run, he packs his bag hastily and pauses at the backdoor. </p><p>“Every night, when the hour strikes ten,” he says earnestly to her. “I’ll look up at the picture of you painted in the stars, and I’ll think of you – of us.  And if you do the same, I’ll know you’re thinking of me too.”</p><p>Over the coming months, it’s what keeps her going – gazing up at her namesake and knowing Ted is alive and looking up at the same ancient fires burning in the darkness.  </p><p>Until, of course, he isn’t any more.</p>
<hr/><p>The house is heavy with the quietness that death and loss bring. The silence crashes over her in waves and Andromeda fears she might drown in it. But then her grandson’s magnificent cries fill her house with life, ripping through the stillness and tearing it to pieces, and causing Andromeda to wonder at the power of those tiny lungs. </p><p>Baby Teddy is her second knight, saving her from the wretched depths of grief and despair. Soothing his cries brings meaning to her days and actions; the bundle of warmth that is Teddy’s living, breathing, snuffling body brings an invaluable comfort. </p><p>This knight does not ride on a horse but crawls, then totters and falls, frowning confusedly at how his legs have failed him, before determinedly rising to his feet again and, to Andromeda’s delight, waddling into her arms. His victory cries are the laughs of delight at a flying toy broom. His weapons are not swords or spears, but the wonder of his first words and the rainbow colours of hair. His army are the people that gather around him - his godfather, and the Weasleys that trail in his wake – filling Andromeda’s house with laughter and life once more. </p><p>But she will not look up at the night sky again. There are too many memories amongst those ever-present sparkles of light in the blackness of space  She does not know what will happen if she gazed at the stars, particularly her namesake, and those of her murdered cousin and mad sister, knowing that Ted will never again look at them alongside her. She fears that the burning loss that glowers in her heart will take flame, merciless and destructive, like a bursting supernova, and leave her soul empty and void, much like a black hole that ruthlessly sucks up all the light that passes it by. </p><p>So she buries her telescope under a dust sheet, and haphazardly clears her star charts away into a draw. She locks the door of her observatory for the last time and thinks about throwing away the key, but at the last minute decides to place it in the bottom draw of her jewellery box, alongside some Black heirlooms she never wears. She gives up her job as Chief Astronomer and instead takes a post in law enforcement. </p><p>Every night as the clock strikes ten, she stares resolutely at the book she’s reading or listens intently to the wireless. </p><p>She will not look at the night sky. </p>
<hr/><p>Eleven years later, after Teddy leaves for Hogwarts, her house grows still and quiet once more. She tries to occupy herself with several campaigns regarding magical law, but she’s never shared the same passion for it as for the stars, and it feels like a false preoccupation. </p><p>That December, she receives an Owl from Kingsley Shacklebolt, saying he needs to discuss something urgent with her and ‘would she come to lunch with him?’ She obliges, of course, intrigued and curious. She has only ever exchanged brief courtesies with Kingsley before.  </p><p>Over baked sea bass at an intimate restaurant, Kingsley shuffles awkwardly in his seat and clears his throat. Andromeda finds it endearing that this overbearing, powerful man is apparently struggling to find his words. </p><p>“I seek to talk to you about a most important matter, but before I do, I need confidence that I have your discretion, Mrs Tonks. This falls under the Unspeakable Oath of Secrecy you took.” </p><p>Andromeda smiles, amused at his formality, but also aware of the worry she can see swimming in his eyes. “Well then, if that’s the case, I have no choice but to keep your secret. And please, call me Andromeda.” </p><p>His eyebrows raise slightly, as if she’s unnerved him by giving permission to call him by his first name. Then his expression returns to one of seriousness, his brows knitting tightly together. </p><p>“There has been a prophecy,” Kingsley’s voice is grave, “One which, when combined with the views of our expert astronomers, makes us concerned that – that an asteroid is on a path to collide with Earth in approximately two months' time. A rock over half a mile long.” </p><p>Andromeda’s heart stills. The Earth being hit by an asteroid that large would have global implications. After the initial devastation, a dust cloud would form, leading to permanent and devastating climate change. </p><p>“We need your help,” Kingsley continues. “These star-gazers are good, yes, but they cannot predict the path of this asteroid to the degree of accuracy we need in order to evacuate the area that it will hit. And it is possible we could avoid this happening altogether, but they have still not mastered the ability to influence the movements of celestial bodies. You remain the one astronomer that has got closest to that. You became extremely close to deciphering the Chinese Chart, didn’t you?”</p><p>The Unspeakable Astronomical Division’s project of aiming to influence the movement of celestial bodies was top secret, but Kingsley would know about it of course - he is the Minister after all. Found in the Dunhuang Caves in 1907, but thought to be over a thousand years old, the Chinese Chart is the oldest star atlas known to civilisation. It tells of ancient magic that will allow wizarding-kind to influence the actual movements of asteroids, possibly even planets. Except no one can read it. Andromeda had, indeed, become the closest person to deciphering it. </p><p>“And we have tried conversing with the Centaurs, but they won’t talk to us. They used to talk to you, though?” </p><p>Andromeda pretends she doesn’t hear the desperate plea in Kingsley’s voice and shakes her head – a short, sad gesture. </p><p>“They talked to Ted. They liked Ted... Everyone liked Ted.” The latter words are but a whisper, spoken to her now empty plate. “I haven't looked at the stars since the 27th of March, 1998.” </p><p>Kingsley nods. She knows he knows that that is the date she was given the news of Ted’s death. He gently places his cutlery down on the starched tablecloth, and asks in a low voice. </p><p>“Why is it so hard? To stargaze now? You – you used to love it at school, I remember.” </p><p>Andromeda is surprised that Kingsley, who was three years above her at Hogwarts, noticed anything about her during their school years. </p><p>“Ted loved it too. Ted loved it with me.” </p><p>She hopes it is enough of an explanation, because it is too painful to speak on it further. To her relief, Kingsley nods again, apparently understanding what has been left unsaid. </p><p>“I cannot help you,” Andromeda states. “I haven't studied for years. Those experts you mentioned, they will know more than me now. There is nothing I can add.” </p><p>She pushes the thoughts of universal dust clouds and a dying planet into the corners of her mind - she cannot think about that now.  She tosses some Galleons down on the table with trembling hands – her half of the bill – and stands to leave. Kingsley abruptly rises with her, his chair scraping noisily across the tiled floor.</p><p>“Okay, Mrs Tonks – Andromeda – of course, but – I wondered if you would allow me to take you to lunch again?” </p><p>She hesitates. Notes the handsome line of Kingsley’s jaw, the wisdom housed in the wrinkles around his eyes. She thinks of how quiet her life has been since Teddy went to Hogwarts, the chronic loneliness that’s seeped into the crevices of her cottage. How she still sometimes forgets and takes two plates from the cupboard instead of one, how she eats her meals with a book propped at the table, the words on its pages her only company. </p><p>“Okay,” she accepts. </p><p>When, a few days later, they eat lunch again together, Kingsley does not push for her to return to the Astronomy Division. Rather, they talk of other things. They discuss current politics, and he listens with interest and respect to her ideas about the reform of the Wizengamot. When he asks after Teddy, her words tumble from her mouth and she doesn’t attempt to hide her fondness and pride.</p><p>She finds that she very much enjoys herself and lets him take her to dinner after that, and then for a walk over the hills and fells near her home. She can tell he is often distracted, though, and sees how his worry lines deepen. She knows he is thinking of the rock the size of Hogsmeade that is blazing a path to earth, but she pushes the guilt she feels away. </p><p>She grows to like his smile very much; he is careful with it, whereas Ted was always generous, but that makes it all the more special. He smiles at her as if they share a secret, an unspoken conspiracy, and it makes Andromeda feel special in a way she hasn’t for years. Amongst the intelligent conversation, there is a gentleness about him, a self-deprecation, which Andromeda finds incredibly charming. He is steady and he is calm and, most important of all, he is kind. </p><p>He takes her to a Muggle play, <em> Romeo and Juliet, </em>and later sends her a card, which she reads late at night. Inside, he has written a quote:  </p><p>
  <em> When he shall die, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Take him and cut him out in little stars, </em>
</p><p>
  <em> And he will make the face of heaven so fine </em>
</p><p>
  <em> That all the world will be in love with night </em>
</p><p>
  <em> And pay no worship to the garish sun. </em>
</p><p>She smiles down at Kingsley’s scrawl and runs a finger over the ink, before standing and walking slowly over to her window. </p><p>She gracefully moves the curtains aside and, for the first time in years, she looks up at the stars.</p>
<hr/><p>A month later, Andromeda finds herself sitting on the sofa in her living room, a glass of mead in hand, with Kingsley sitting beside her. She is explaining how her and Ted extended the original farmer’s cottage. “Building the observatory was the biggest challenge - it needed to be big enough to house the telescope, you see.” </p><p>“I have heard of the Tonks’ telescope. It is famous,” Kingsley states. “Will you show me it? I would very much like to see it.” </p><p>She is uncertain at first, but the thought of going into her observatory doesn’t make her stomach turn like it used to.</p><p>“Okay,” she concedes. </p><p>She leads the way up the stairs to the top of the house, digging the key out from the pile of Black jewels on the way. </p><p>She pauses outside the door. She hasn’t been in there for thirteen years and has no idea what state it will be in, but she gains courage from the gentle touch of Kingsley’s hand on the small of her back, from the warmth of his smile, and unlocks the door. </p><p>She uncovers the telescope with trembling hands. It shines in the moonlight, as if no time has passed since it was first veiled. She spends some minutes tightening screws, repositioning it, cleaning its lens. But she cannot look through its glass. </p><p>She gestures to Kingsley, then to the telescope. “Would you like to...?” </p><p>“Ah, yes! Thank you,” Kingsley responds. He shuffles, bends down and looks through the lens. Surprisingly, it feels okay to see him there, in the precious place where Ted had stood countless times before. </p><p>“Oh, that must be Cepheus!” Kingsley proclaims. “Or is it Draco?” </p><p>They are easy constellations to distinguish, and Andromeda’s urge to impart knowledge overtakes her as she moves quickly to the telescope, pushes Kingsley aside and clarifies that the constellation is indeed Cepheus. </p><p>She cannot stop then: she continues to scan the sky, pointing out the stars and planets to an attentive Kingsley. She feels a fire that's been left dormant and cold rekindle in the depths of her heart, and she's aware that that is mostly down to the man now standing by her side. </p><p>A little later, after Kingsley has made them two steaming mugs of cocoa, they stand together and gaze out at the impenetrable blackness of the night. </p><p>“What is it you love so much about the night sky, Andromeda?” Kingsley asks. </p><p>She notes his use of the present tense, and doesn't correct him. She pauses, thinking, as the calm and stillness of the evening settles over them. </p><p>“I can pretend with the stars, you see,” she tries to explain. “There’s always a star out there that’s dying, but they <em> seem </em>enduring, constant, indefinite. With the stars, I can pretend that things last. And even when they die, their remains are propelled through space and can create new things - planets. Even people... We, too, are stardust.” </p><p>“Yes,” Kingsley agrees quietly. “That is humbling to think about, I agree... Ted. Remus. Nymphadora. It seems their lights flared up and went out long before their time, but that does not mean their fires were not worth burning.” </p><p>She thinks of what her family fought for, of what they’d given their lives for: a just world, a more tolerant world, a better world. She thinks of her grandson, of his friends, of the children <em> he </em>might have, and of how they now have the opportunity to live and love in the world that her family died for. Then she thinks of a blanket of dust hovering over the Earth, and of ecosystems slowly dying. Of how, if she does not do all she can to stop that from happening, it would be like betraying the memory of those that have died. </p><p>“‘Though my soul may set in darkness, I will rise in perfect light…’” Andromeda murmurs thoughtfully. The words are from one of her favourite poems, and when she says the next line, she hears Kingsley join in with her, so they speak it in unison: </p><p>“‘I have loved the stars too truly to be fearful of the night.’” </p><p>There is another moment of profound stillness. Then, silently, Andromeda strides to her draws and pulls at the handle of one. It is stiff and awkward, but eventually opens. She gingerly pulls out a stack of crumpled parchment, lays it on the table and starts to gently smooth the documents out, as if they might break if she touched them too firmly. </p><p>She turns to Kingsley, her mouth set in a determined line. “Tell me again. Tell me everything you know about the asteroid.” </p>
<hr/><p>Over the next week, Andromeda works through the days and nights and has regular meetings with other astronomical experts. In the early hours of the morning a week before the asteroid is due to collide with Earth, she finally cracks the code needed to decipher the Chinese Charts. Its secrets are revealed, which means the exact course of the asteroid can be established. The spell work needed to change the course of the giant malevolent rock is too complex to be learnt at such short notice, but there is a real possibility that the rock can be <em> destroyed </em>, rather than moved, before it reaches Earth. </p><p>The night before the asteroid is due to strike, Andromeda stands in a circle in a field in Hampshire, with Kingsley and five other powerful witches and wizards. They raise their arms, point their wands up to the skies and cast pioneering curses into the dark. </p><p>There is an anxious moment of stillness and quiet, before a huge flash of white fire lights up the night, blinding and apocalyptic. They continue to watch the asteroid shatter into tiny blazing pieces that rain down towards Earth in a celestial storm. It is spectacular and - most importantly of all - harmless. The pieces burn up into dust as they hit the Earth’s atmosphere. </p>
<hr/><p>Kingsley is her third knight. He saves her from an otherwise inevitable loneliness. She no longer has to prop a book up on the dining table to read during mealtimes; instead, she has Kingsley’s smile, his touch and his words for company. </p><p>But most importantly, he saves her by teaching her that she can still look at the stars without her soul blazing up and collapsing in on itself. </p><p>Rather, her soul is now a low, steady flame, one that will burn on for many years to come, providing a warmth and a light that illuminates the joy in all she still has to live, and to love for. </p>
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